Today's hummingbirds of Cerro Azul

This post is an excuse to show you the nice collection of hummingbirds that visit he feeders at Cerro Azul, a gated community in the foothills east of Panama City.  Osvaldo Quintero, Osvaldo Quintero Jr., and myself visited the Ahrens' house, invited by Leslie and Cindy Lieurance (The Petrels in Panama), where Claudia received us for a while before we headed to a nearby trail to birdwatch (that story in another post).  I will show the hummingbirds in, more or less, taxonomic order.  All the photos were taken today at the Ahrens or Lieurance feeders (except for one, you'll see).

And the taxonomic list starts with a VERY beautiful hummingbird: the White-necked Jacobin is simply spectacular... and the most common hummingbird in both houses.

The hermits are not exactly colorful hummingbirds, but impressive in their own way.  This Stripe-throated Hermit is the smallest of the hummingbirds seen today, and this one in particular preferred the semi-hidden feeder below the table!

In the other extreme, the Green Hermit was the largest hummingbird we saw... it will fly right in front of you just for curiosity!

The stars at the Ahrens' feeders were the two (probably three) Brown Violetears present since some time ago.  This species is particularly rare and erratic in Panama, so having them visiting feeders is simply good news!

In the other hand, the star at the Lieurance's feeders was the single Long-billed Starthroat that waited patiently to drink among the numerous jacobins.  The shiny red throat is hard to see, and to photograph of course.

Among the panamanians hummingbirds, the Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer is unique due to those conspicuous red feet!

Usually, the male Violet-crowned Woodnymph looks quite dark, almost black, under normal light conditions... but this bird really glows with the adequate angle.

The Amazilias hummingbirds are a very distinctive group present in almost every feeder... and the most ubiquitous is the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird... this one was singing! (can you see the "rufous"?).

The Blue-chested Hummingbird only showed itself for two seconds... this photo is from Cerro Azul, but of a different trip.

In spite of the bad light, the Snowy-bellied Hummingbird is unmistakable due to its sharply demarcated white belly and metallic call.

And last, but not less important, the tiny Violet-capped Hummingbird is almost endemic to Panama, barely reaching Colombia and the single member of it genus Goldmania (named in honor of Mr. E. A. Goldman, who collected the type specimen in Cerro Azul, back in march of 1911).  Cerro Azul is certainly the easiest place in the world to see this bird.  This is a female, the glorious male didn't want photos!

Eleven species!  Not bad for a single day just sitting in front of well-kept feeders!

More species than supposed !

I have just attended a VERY interesting lecture by Matthew Miller (of the Bermingham lab at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's -STRI- Naos Laboratory) during the Panama Audubon Society's monthly meeting in Panama City.  His first words stated that we are probably underestimating 30% of the avian diversity of our country !!!  

Many different forms of lowland birds (and surely highlands too) in Panama may represent new, sometimes cryptic, species under the biological species concept.  Birds like White-whiskered Puffbird, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher and White-breasted Wood-Wren are probably represented by more than one species within Panama... amazing!  Just check Matthew's chart on White-breasted Wood-Wren populations that exhibit almost no introgression among them (suggesting THREE different species!).

There are different ways for divergence among the new species... with some groups forming distinct, new separable species in a relatively short time by exhibiting habits and behaviors that reinforce the breeding barriers among them, as in the case of the Selasphorus Scintillant and Volcano Hummingbirds.

Volcano Hummingbird, genetically very similar to the Scintillant Hummingbird

But others  than the Selasphorus hummingbirds were the main attraction of the lecture.  First of all, he showed to us the distinctiveness, both physical and genotypically, of the Escudo Hummingbird, Amazilia handleyi.  Actually recognized as part of the widespread Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, A. tzacatl, the recognition of handleyi as a distinct, VERY range-restricted, full species would raise the conservation of tiny Escudo de Veraguas island as of high priority (the island is unprotected right now, and could hold more species new to science).

Two Amazilia handleyi at the extreme right.  Notice the larger size and general darker coloration in comparison with Amazilia tzacatl to the left

And what everybody was waiting for.... Matthew confirmed the discovery of a completely new hummingbird species for science.  In july 2011, STRI personnel collected a Lampornis hummingbird from southern Azuero Peninsula (Cerro Hoya), superficially similar to the Purple-throated Mountain-Gem (Lampornis calolaemus) of Nicaragua to central Panama.  It differs in both crown and vent coloration, you can see the difference in vent color in the next two photos of prepared skins (Venicio "Beny" Wilson's photo shows the difference in crown color here).

Lampornis sp. nov. at extreme left (two skins)

From left to righ: Lampornis sp. nov., Lampornis calolaemus and Lampornis castaneoventris

The Purple-throated Mountain-Gem distribution is interrupted by that of the White-throated Mountain-Gem (Lampornis castaneoventris) in Costa Rica and western Panama, with two separable form: cinereicauda (so far restricted to Costa Rica) and nominal castaneoventris (extreme eastern Costa Rica and western Panama)... but in the next photo of one of Matthew's slides, you can also see how genetically different are the Cerro Hoya birds from all the others members of the complex (notice that the pectoralis population of Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica is also very distinct from the homogenes - and calolaemus - birds from southwestern Costa Rica/Panama and northern/central Costa Rica respectively, but physically very similar).

Notice how distinct the Cerro Hoya birds are (enlarge the picture and follow the lines)

Congratulations Matthew, and we are eager to see the formal description of the new species (as in plural) published soon!

Who plugs these birds to electricity?

The hummingbirds are famous for various reasons... the smallest birds, the only one that can fly backwards, owners of many records, and, of course, their iridescent plumages.  That's right!, I'm still posting about my last trip to northwestern Ecuador along with Rafael Cortes and José María Loaiza, and now is time to post some really spectacular photos of the masters of iridescence.  All you need is the right angle of light, for example... this Violet-tailed Sylph at Refugio Paz de las Aves looks pretty dull in the feeder... but when it leaves, you see a flash of color.

Even under poor light conditions, you still are able to see its iridescent tail!

Look at this impressive Empress Brilliant at the feeder... huge (for a hummingbird), size alone is enough to motivate some WAOOOs and AAHHHs.

But if you see carefully... they can show you why they are truly spectacular!

But the REAL master of iridescence is the Velvet-purple Coronet.  First a dull photo... that is not easy to get with this bird!

Usually, even the most minimal light is enough to ignite this one!  PAM!!! watch how different it can look depending of the light angle!  Truly electrical!

These phenomena is common to many hummingbirds... and not only at Paz de las Aves as you could guess, just watch this Green-crowned Woodnymph that was visiting the feeders at the Mirador Río Blanco, in Los Bancos (a little lower than Paz de las Aves).

With adequate light, even common hummers look shiny... check out this Rufous-tailed Hummingbird.

The Green-crowned Brilliant is a close relative to the Empress Brilliant showed above... and it shows also a glamorous glow... the female is also very pretty.  We got Green-crowned Brilliants in Panama... but I don't remember seeing them like this!

We also have Green Thorntails back in Panama... but in Mirador Río Blanco... well, they were ridiculously easy!!!  Both males and females are common visitors.

I hope you enjoyed this electrical gallery... the hummingbirds rocks!

A magic place... or should I say enchanted?

We were in a hurry... we just came back in the morning from our birding trip in Venezuela and already were packing our stuff for our night flight to Quito, Ecuador, in order to continue birding! I was now in Bogota, Colombia, at the house of my birding trip companion Rafael Cortes, who wanted to take advantage of every second available before our flight, so we decided to spent a couple of hours at a magic place one hour away of the capital city, in the Municipality of San Francisco de Sales: the Enchanted Garden... and it really worth the effort!!!

The number of hummingbird feeders was impressive, but not as impressive as the number of individuals drinking at them!

When you say that the most common hummer at your feeders is an endemic one, well, you have an enchanted garden... just watch these pics of this cooperative Indigo-capped Hummingbird!

More widespread species (like the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird or the White-vented Plumleteer) were also present... after all, the list of species recorded at this site is impressive.

We only saw this Green Hermit once, and for just few seconds... enough for a couple of pics.

The Black-throated Mango is a common and widespread species... the female is very attractive with its contrasting black-and-white underparts... but the male is simply astonishing!

But the stars (literally) of the show were the woodstars... At least four different individuals of White-bellied Woodstars appeared at the same time... always noticed first by their audible zmmm while flying.

And last, but not less, a tiny gem made our day.  A male Gorgeted Woodstar shyly visited the feeders... its flying gorget was special!

After all, we only spend 1 hour at the place, enough to enjoy all these beauties and still have time to catch our flight to Quito, Ecuador... but that is another story!